When is the right age to introduce a star chart?

[indi4]

Loads of books talk about star charts, and I was unsure what age is the best to introduce one? Do you only introduce one if you have problems or is a good way of positive praising other than verbally? My little one is nearing 2 years

I have never used one with dd (nearly 6) or ds (nearly 3). I would consider using one if either of them were displaying behaviours I wanted to change.

i used one when potty training dd she was 2. basically she got to stick a sticker on a chart. messing with the stickers was reward in itself

I think it would depend on whether the desired behaviour is seen from a positive or negative point of view. So - for example...

Potty training - 'you can put a star on your chart every time you do a wee on your potty' would work fine from about 2.5 years.

But

'You can put a star on your chart if you...

manage not to wet your trousers...
don't hit little Jonnie at playgroup...' etc would not work till much older.

It depends on the child. Some children really benefit from star charts + it suits some parents. With dd I found it just served to focus her attention on her bad behaviour until she felt almost pushed into misbehaving because she was thinking about it all the time.

What about in terms of starting to dress themselves, brushing teeth, tidying away toys etc?

Well bear in mind if she's not even 2 it's quite early to dress herself and you should be brushing her teeth for her for a good few years yet! But tidying toys might be ok as long as it's a star for just a few toys. However, the average 2 yo will get all the toys out again to do the whole thing again for more stars! So maybe defeating the object rather!